This section contains a summary of Babylon 5's story arc (the 5-year
plotline) up to, but not including,
"Ship of Tears."
Note that this is chock full of spoilers!

The Babylon Project was conceived by the Earth government in the
aftermath of the Earth-Minbari War. It was finally realized in Babylon 5, a
diplomatic outpost created to promote peaceful conflict resolution. Even
with such lofty goals, its galactic significance has quickly outstripped its
founders' wildest dreams -- let alone their ability to control. Babylon 5's
early years have been marked by a growing sense of foreboding, punctuated
by successively more immediate threats to the station's safety. Yet as
rising darkness nurtures galaxy-wide despair, the station begins to become
the focal point for a number of tiny rays of light.

The Shadows

The gloom is made incarnate by the return of a mysterious ancient race known
only as the Shadows. A thousand years ago they were beaten back to the rim
of known space by an alliance which included relatively young civilizations
like the Minbari, and a number of extremely powerful older races known
collectively as the First Ones, who with
the exception of the Vorlons have all passed beyond the confines of the
galaxy -- presumably forever. On the rim, on dead deserted worlds like
Z'ha'dum, the Shadows hid and gathered their strength for another assault
("In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum.")
They do not act openly yet, but only through
proxies like the human Mr. Morden, and the Centauri. What do they want?
Only they know for sure. Chaos, it would seem, and control, and about two
thirds of the galaxy.

The Centauri and Ambassador Londo Mollari

It is ironic for a people as dedicated to hedonism and frivolity as the
Centauri to become the facilitators of destruction and despair. Yet they
are trapped by their dreams of former Empire and the vainglorious whims of
individuals like Ambassador Mollari and the machiavellian Lord Refa. At first
Londo thinks he can use his new friend Mr. Morden to further his own career,
and is scarcely disturbed that the price is paid in Narn corpses.
Disregarding all warnings,
("The Geometry of Shadows,""Knives")
and the best
chance for peace the Centauri have ever had,
("The Coming of Shadows")
Londo
oversaw the Centauri-Narn War from its inception as a border conflict
("Midnight on the Firing Line,""Chrysalis")
to its culmination in the
planetary bombardment of the Narn homeworld
("The Long, Twilight Struggle.")
Yet as his dreams come closer to reality, his enjoyment of them ebbs, and it
begins to dawn on him the extent to which it is he who is being used in the
schemes of others.

The Narn and Ambassador G'Kar

The G'Kar who lied brazenly about the preemptive Narn strike against an
undefended Centauri agricultural colony
("Midnight on the Firing Line,")
is
a far cry from the one who was ordered to petition Earth for sanctuary on
Babylon 5 as the last surviving member of the Narn ruling body
("The Long Twilight Struggle.")
In the intervening years he experienced a religious
reaffirmation when he discovered on Z'ha'dum the ancient Enemy spoken of by
the prophet G'Quon
("Revelations.")
He learned futility by watching his
warnings of the Enemy's return fall on seemingly deaf ears. And he learned
humility from the greatness of his enemy's emperor
("The Coming of Shadows.")
Perhaps these experiences have prepared him for the heavy
responsibility he assumes of leading his people's struggle for independence
in exile.

Earth

Signs from Earth have also grown markedly bleaker in just a few years. The
anti-alien Home Guard
("The War Prayer,")
the squelching of the Mars
independence movement
("A Voice in the Wilderness,")
and the increase in
militarism back home
("GROPOS,")
soon paled in comparison to the discovery of
the conspiracy which led to the assassination of the Earth President
("Chrysalis,""Hunter Prey,")
and the efforts of the insidious Ministry of
Peace to eradicate the faintest whispers of dissent. In its most morally
vacant act, the Earth government chose to sign a treaty of nonaggression
with the expanding Centauri Empire
("The Fall of Night")
rather than stand
up for the sovereignty of the Nonaligned Worlds.

The Psi Corps

Whenever the Babylon 5 crew investigates the more disturbing situations
arising from contact with Earth, they regularly find the Psi Corps lurking
behind the scenes. Quite clearly the Psi Corps has no limits on the extent
to which it will manipulate people in its efforts to obtain power
("Mind War,""Soul Mates,""A Race through Dark Places.")
Among many who view them
with suspicion, Commander Ivanova's hatred for the Corps is legendary; it is
also a smoke screen to hide her fear that they will discover her telepathic
latency. Within the Corps itself, there appears to be an even more
dangerous, ultra-secret group operating under the code name Bureau 13
("A Spider in the Web.")
Among other acts of casual manipulation and
destruction, they are likely responsible for planting the artificial
personality in Talia Winters which was sent to spy on B5 and which wiped out
Talia's true personality
("Divided Loyalties.")

The Minbari and Ambassador Delenn

Powerful, honorable, the Minbari almost annihilated Earth after their first
encounter with humans, yet inexplicably surrendered in their hour of victory
and subsequently helped sponsor the Babylon Project. Of the few humans and
Minbari who know the complete story, many do not believe it. When the Grey
Council war cruiser was poised over Earth during the Battle of the Line, a
lone pilot attempting to ram their ship (Jeffrey Sinclair) was captured and
interrogated
("And the Sky Full of Stars.")
To their horror, the Council
determined that Minbari souls were being reborn in human bodies. Besides the
fact that Minbari refuse to harm their own, an ancient prophecy
claimed that a great challenge would someday arise which could only be met
when the two halves of the Minbari soul were joined. Thus, the Council
ordered the Minbari forces to surrender
("Points of Departure.")
Many
Minbari, particularly among the warrior caste, still despise this decision
("There All Honor Lies,")
and as the warrior caste grows more powerful on
Minbar, there are signs of schisms appearing in the formerly coherent society.

The prophecy also mentions an individual who will lead the combined forces
of Minbari and humans. So strong is her belief that she is this Chosen One
("Comes the Inquisitor,")
that not only does Delenn refuse the Grey
Council's selection of her to be the leader of all Minbari
("Babylon Squared,")
but against its instruction to wait she metamorphoses into a
human-Minbari hybrid
("Chrysalis,""Revelations.")
Although permitted to
remain as ambassador on B5, Delenn's confidence is severely shaken when the
remaining Grey Council decides to remove her from their company
("All Alone in the Night,")
and even further when she discovers that she is accepted by
neither humans nor Minbari
("And Now for a Word,""There All Honor Lies.")
She has only her faith in herself, the loyalty of Lennier and her growing
bond with Captain Sheridan to depend on.

The Vorlons and Ambassador Kosh

Delenn also appears to have the approval of the Vorlons -- although this is no
easy burden. Enigmatic and extremely advanced, the Vorlons rarely seem to
take the opinions of others into consideration when they act. They have
visited many worlds, but not openly, perhaps to guide the species there, and
perhaps to manipulate them. Kosh is willing to aid the few like Delenn and
Sheridan who merit his attention
("There All Honor Lies,""Hunter Prey,")
but
they do not escape the encounter unscathed
("Comes the Inquisitor.")
Since
he arrived on the station, Kosh remained hidden inside his encounter suit
for years. When he finally revealed himself, he appeared as a glorious
being of light and lore -- different to each species who saw him. Very few
realized that it was Kosh whom they saw, but most agree that they witnessed
proof that the station is blessed
("The Fall of Night.")

The Conspiracy of Light

After surreptitiously testing the attitudes of his crew for several months,
Sheridan involved Ivanova, Garibaldi and Franklin in an extremely dangerous
plot to investigate and root out the evil they see growing in the heart of
the Earth government. At first they were all alone, with the exception of
Sheridan's contact, General Hague. But as the Shadows come
and darkness grows deeper throughout the galaxy, Babylon 5 has attracted
unexpected allies for a great battle that looms heavily on the horizon. The
first is Draal, who is the Minbari heart of the great machine and extremely
powerful weaponry in the planet below the station. Assistance also comes
from the embassy on Minbar, where former station commander Sinclair leads
a growing army of mostly human and Minbari Rangers. In the vicinity of
Babylon 5 the Rangers answer to Delenn and Captain Sheridan. Yet even with
Draal and the Vorlons among them, by 2260 the fighters for the light seem
pitifully few and weak compared to the pervasive and terrifying power of
the Shadows.

More Recently...

"Matters of Honor"
brought Marcus Cole, a Ranger, to the station; he led Sheridan and Delenn to
a new ship, the White Star, a combination of Minbari and Vorlon technology.
Pushing the White Star to its limits, Sheridan destroyed a Shadow cruiser.
Londo attempted to sever his ties with the Shadows. Morden met with a Psi
Cop, apparently far from the first such meeting.

The Centauri sent a replacement for G'Kar to the station in
"A Day in the Strife"
and threatened to persecute the families of G'Kar's supporters unless he
gave up his exile and faced trial. Meanwhile, Ta'Lon, a Narn whose life
Sheridan saved some months earlier
("All Alone in the Night")
pledged to act as Sheridan's bodyguard. Londo arranged to have Vir
sent off to Minbar as the new Centauri diplomatic liaison.

In
"Passing Through Gethsemane,"
Lyta Alexander, the station's first telepath and the person who unmasked
Talia's Bureau-13-implanted personality, returned from a stay on the Vorlon
homeworld to become Ambassador Kosh's attache. The Vorlons appear to have
modified her, possibly even enabling her to carry one of them inside her.

The conspiracy of light made its move against President Clark in
"Voices of Authority"
by releasing a recording of Morden and Clark planning
Santiago's assassination. Ivanova located another race of First Ones and
secured a promise of help in the fight against the Shadows.

G'Kar learned of Londo's involvement with the Shadows in
"Dust to Dust."
He was sentenced to prison for assaulting Londo, and was visited in a
dream by Kosh, who posed as the Narn deity G'Lan.

In
"Point of No Return,"
President Clark declared martial law on Babylon 5 after dissolving the Senate
back home. An attempt by the Nightwatch to take over the station was foiled,
barely, but Sheridan was forced to accept G'Kar's help and begin using Narn
as station security personnel.

Despite his temporary victory, Sheridan was soon forced to cut the station's
ties with Earth in
"Severed Dreams,"
following in the footsteps of several secessionist colony worlds after the
bombing of civilians on Mars.
Delenn, meanwhile, confronted the Grey Council about its unwillingness to
intervene in the spreading Shadow-initiated conflicts among the nonaligned
worlds; the confrontation led to the shattering of
the Council. A losing battle for control of the station was resolved only by
the arrival of Minbari cruisers under the command of Delenn and other former
Council members, who declared Babylon 5 under Minbari protection.

In
"Ceremonies of Light and Dark,"
Sheridan admitted his growing affection for Delenn. Londo threatened Refa
with death unless the Centauri broke off their relationship with Morden and
the Shadows.

Vir returned to the station after being demoted for running an underground
railroad for Narn refugees in
"Sic Transit Vir."

Realizing that the station would be better off with more protectors than just
the Minbari, Sheridan and Ivanova negotiated with several minor races to
supplement the station's defenses in
"A Late Delivery From Avalon."